The British trio clocked the best time in qualifying but were beaten by defending champions France by just two-thousandths of a second in the final.

"We've got mixed emotions," said MacLean. "To go that fast and lose the gold by just two thousandths of a second, it's gutting."

Everything here is all about Beijing; the world will be looking to see who's on form and who's not

Bradley Wiggins

Wiggins, 26, who had won the title on his last visit to the World Championships in 2003, had been almost five seconds quicker than Bartko in the heats and said he felt this had affected the German's confidence.

"I think he was already beaten going into the final which was a big thing for me," said Wiggins.

"I was nervous this afternoon and didn't take anything for granted, but God knows what he thought having five seconds pumped into him.

"I wanted to put out a message here, which obviously being a pre-Olympic year is very important.

"Everything here is all about Beijing, and the world will be looking to see who's on form and who's not."

The sprint is my main event but I think we've got a lot more to come in the team event

Victoria Pendleton

It could be just the first gold at these championships for Wiggins, who will be one of the British four on form to contest the final of the team pursuit on Friday and is favourite to win the madison in partnership with Rob Hayles.

"I'm out of here now and this jersey's in the suitcase," he added. "But I'll be 100% up for the team event."

Pendleton, a former match sprint world champion, and Reade, junior BMX world champion, had been the only pair to go under 34 seconds in qualifying in the inaugural women's team sprint.

Reade had blazed off on the opening lap, before peeling off to make way for Pendleton.

Their time of 33.630 was the quickest ever in the event which was added to the international calendar this season.

"Shanaze is very fast, it is not easy getting on the back of a first lap like that," said Pendleton.

"The sprint is my main event, but I'm really happy and I think we've got a lot more to come."

You can watch live action from Mallorca on BBCi and the BBC Sport website throughout the championships.